NEW YORK – A school record fell and a large number of season bests were turned in as Columbia took part in a pair of meets, which serve as the final preparations for the 2018 Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships.

At Friday’s women’s portion of the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational, a school record fell on the women’s side in the midst of four personal records that were set.

Senior Sarah Hardie claimed her heat of the 1 Mile run, clocking a 4:39.11, which was good enough to unseat Erin Gillingham’s program standard of 4:40.72 from 2013. This is the third school record for Hardie, who also owns school records in the indoor 1,000m and outdoor 4x800m relay.

In the 800m run, Bianca Alonzo clocked a PR by over three seconds, taking ninth place among college entries at 2:08.29. The time by Alonzo was the third best indoor 800m in school history.

Akua Obeng-Akrofi and Iman Sule both ran PRs in the 400m, with Obeng-Akrofi taking second in 53.48, and Sule going 55.98 for 15th.

The men took the track on Saturday, excelling in the middle distance events.

Josiah Langstaff claimed his heat of the 800m run, crossing the line in 1:50.85 which was put him in 12th place overall. Alek Sauer finished 17th in the same race at 1:51.45, which was one spot ahead of Willie Hall, who ran 1:51.56. Sam Ritz also clocked one of the top 1 Mile times of the day, going 4:05.09 for 18th.

During Friday’s Fastrack National Invite, a number of top performances were turned in by both the men and women’s teams.

The men’s distance runners impressed, starting with Kenny Vasbinder, who was second in the Mile run at 4:10.52. In the 3,000m Invite, Tyler Italiano was another runner-up in 8:19.33, while Chris Thompson was third in 8:19.93. Aiden Goltra and Tal Braude went 6-7 in the 5,000m, with Goltra clocking a 14.58.41, and Braude right behind in 14.59.61.

Robert O’Brien claimed fourth place in the pole vault, clearing 4.95m on the day. Rookie Jackson Storey was sixth in the 800m Invite at 1:53.32. The top-10 performances were rounded-out by Jack Pihlkar, who went 16.36m in the weight throw.

The women received a victorious performance from Samantha Marin in the 5,000m run, as the first-year took the tape in 17:14.13. Not far behind Marin in third place was Victoria Ingram, who claimed third in 17:29.47.

Libby Kokes turned in a career-best in the 1 Mile run, crossing the line in 4:49.62. Other top performances came from Shalon Conley, who finished sixth in the 200m at 25.99, Sydney Petersen taking ninth in the 400m at 56.92, and Terri Turner matching that place in the 800m Invite at 2:12.70.

Columbia will take next weekend off before traveling to Dartmouth for the 2018 Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championships, Feb. 24-25.